The Hauslab-Liechtenstein Map Collection
contains some 9,600-10,000 manuscript and printed map sheets assembled by the Austrian
cartographer and general Franz Ritter von Hauslab and later acquired by Prince Jordan II
of Liechtenstein. Within the collection there are examples of various types of map
reproduction, including copper engraving, lithography, photolithography, zincography,
heliogravure, sun prints, and transfers. The collection also includes maps illustrating
various techniques of cartographic representation and symbolism. There are large numbers
of military, campaign, fortification, and battle maps and plans illustrating most of the
major conflicts between the 1600s and 1800s. Among other distinctive groups are maps,
sketches, and views of volcanoes, panoramic and perspective maps, geologic and
geognostic maps, and language and ethnographic. Another distinctive category includes
large and medium scale topographic maps series, including two hand-colored sets of the
famous 1:86,400 Cassini survey of France, in 182 sheets, issued during the period 1744
to 1783. This is the earliest official topographic survey of an entire country. In
addition, there are maps of the world, of all the continents, and of many individual
countries, provinces, states, and cities. American maps are few in number. However, the
collection is rich in European maps of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with
emphasis on the Austro-Hungarian Empire.